The -m(V) Nominal Derivational Suffixes in Erzya-Mordvin
The -m(V) Nominal Derivational Suffixes in Erzya-Mordvin

Summary/Abstract: This paper discusses the Erzya-Mordvin -m(V) nominal derivational suffixes. There are more than one nominal suffix in present-day Erzya that contains this consonant: 1) The -mo, -ma, -me deverbal noun suffix that is still productive and frequent. This suffix was already present in the first written records of the 18th century and has been very productive and active since then. It usually produces nouns abstract in meaning (nomen actionis), and as almost any kind of abstract noun can be formed with it, the semantic categories of the suffix are manifold. At the same time, a number of concrete nouns (nomen instrumenti) also fall within this word group. 2) The complex -lma, -lmo ­nominal suffix that developed from the suffix discussed above. Initially, it was ­probably produced through a shift of morpheme boundaries: first, frequentative verbs were formed from adjectives with the addition of -l, then these were transformed into nouns. It is not a productive suffix anymore, but it used to be one at the beginning of Mordvin literacy. Present-day language reformers create new words from adjectives and verbs with the help of this suffix. 3) The suffix -mo has become obscured, unproductive and rare and can only be traced in few adjectives. The same suffix is present in two of the pronouns as well. 4) The most crucial section of the paper is about the -m(V) nominal suffix that has also become obscured, unproductive and infrequent. This suffix is virtually non-existent in the Mordvin literature of the topic. Here, 37 words are discussed. In some of these, the presence of the suffix is provable through examples from the related languages, while in others, certain etymological considerations lead us to think that it is there. Most of the base words contained by this small dataset are nouns, but there are a couple of verbal stems accompanied by this suffix as well. The denominal suffix has become completely obscured now, and the deverbal suffix has also become less frequent, having been gradually replaced by the -ma/-mo/-me that is added to words in a transparent way.

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